there were 498,100 teachers in state-funded schools in England in 2017 (including classroom teachers, headteachers, and deputy and assistant heads) – when part-time work was taken into account, this amounts to the equivalent of 451,900 full-time teachers

86.2% of all teachers whose ethnicity was known were White British – around 401,400 teachers – with 13.6% coming from all other ethnic groups (including White minorities); at the time of the 2011 Census, 78.5% of the working age population was White British

teachers from the Other White ethnic group made up the next largest group after White British teachers, making up 3.8% of teachers whose ethnicity was known (around 17,800 teachers)

93.0% of headteachers whose ethnicity was known were White British (around 20,700 headteachers)

376,300 teachers were female, and there were more female than male teachers in all ethnic groups

Things you need to know

The numbers shown here are based on a headcount of the total number of teachers in England whose ethnicity was known, regardless of whether they worked part time or full time. Full-time equivalent numbers can be found in the tables included in the school workforce in England statistical release.

The numbers shown here are based on a headcount of the total number of teachers in England whose ethnicity was known, regardless of whether they worked part time or full time. Full-time equivalent numbers can be found in the tables included in the school workforce in England statistical release.

What the data measures

This data measures the number of school teachers (including headteachers) in all state-funded schools in England, broken down by ethnicity, gender and grade.

The data includes teachers employed both directly by the school and centrally by the local authority in all state-funded schools. These include:

nursery, primary, secondary and special schools run by local authorities

academies

free schools

The data doesn’t include the following types of school:

independent schools

sixth form colleges

further education establishments

The data doesn't include the following individuals:

teaching assistants

occasional teachers (on contracts of less than one month)

teachers for whom ethnicity is not known – in 2017 this relates to 6.6% of teachers in state funded schools.

The data was collected from schools and local authorities in November 2017 as part of the annual school workforce census.

This data measures the number of school teachers (including headteachers) in all state-funded schools in England, broken down by ethnicity, gender and grade.

The data includes teachers employed both directly by the school and centrally by the local authority in all state-funded schools. These include:

nursery, primary, secondary and special schools run by local authorities

academies

free schools

The data doesn’t include the following types of school:

independent schools

sixth form colleges

further education establishments

The data doesn't include the following individuals:

teaching assistants

occasional teachers (on contracts of less than one month)

teachers for whom ethnicity is not known – in 2017 this relates to 6.6% of teachers in state funded schools.

The data was collected from schools and local authorities in November 2017 as part of the annual school workforce census.

The ethnic categories used in this data

The 16 categories used in this data are those listed in the 2001 Census. The categories are broadly the same as those used in the 2011 Census, except that:

the 2001 Census categorised Chinese people within ‘Other ethnic group’

the 2001 Census did not list Gypsy and Irish Travellers or Arab people

Summary

This data shows that:

in 2017, the majority of school teachers in England (whose ethnicity was known) were White British, at 86.2% of the workforce (around 401,400 teachers); by comparison, 78.5% of the working age population of England was White British at the time of the 2011 Census

3.8% of teachers whose ethnicity was known were from the Other White ethnic group (around 17,800 teachers), followed by 1.9% from the Indian ethnic group (around 8,600 teachers) and 1.6% from the White Irish group (around 7,500 teachers); this compares with 5.6%, 3.0% and 1.0% of the working age population of England in 2011, respectively

Summary

in 2017, around 3 out of 4 school teachers were female (around 376,300 teachers)

86.2% of male teachers and 86.3% of female teachers were White British (around 97,600 and 303,700 teachers respectively)

Black African teachers made up 1.3% of male teachers and 0.7% of female teachers (around 1,500 and 2,300 teachers respectively)

there were 6 ethnic groups where the percentage of male teachers was greater than female teachers from the same ethnic group; the largest difference was in the Black African group, where men made up 1.3% of male teachers and women made up 0.7% of female teachers (a difference of 0.6 percentage points)

the percentage of female teachers was greater than male teachers in both the Indian and Other White ethnic groups (with differences of 0.5 and 0.7 percentage points respectively); for all other ethnic groups the percentages of male and female teachers from the same ethnicity were very similar

Summary

This data shows that:

in 2017, there were around 248,900 nursery and primary school teachers, 219,700 secondary school teachers, 24,700 special school teachers and 4,900 teachers who were centrally employed by the local authority

of those whose ethnicity was known, 88.9% of nursery and primary school teachers were White British (around 208,400 teachers), and 11.1 % were from all other ethnic groups combined (including White ethnic minorities)

83.0% of secondary school teachers were White British (around 169,200 teachers), and 16.7 % were from all other ethnic groups combined (including White ethnic minorities)

86.7% of special school teachers were White British (around 20,100 teachers), and 13.3% were from all other ethnic groups combined (including White ethnic minorities)

90.6% of teachers who were centrally employed by the local authority were White British (around 3,600 teachers)

teachers from the Other White group were the next largest group after White British across all types of school (where ethnicity was known) – they made up 2.9% of nursery and primary school teachers, 4.7% of secondary school teachers, 5.1% of special school teachers and 3.9% of centrally employed teachers

across all types of schools, teachers were least likely to be from Mixed White and Black African, or Chinese, backgrounds

Summary

in 2017, there were around 22,200 headteachers, and over two-thirds of those were female (14,900)

male headteachers were more likely to be White (including White ethnic minorities), at 97.3%, compared with female headteachers (at 96.4%)

there were 8 ethnic groups where the percentage of female headteachers was greater than male headteachers from the same ethnic group; the largest difference was in the Black Caribbean ethnic group, where women made up 0.8% of female headteachers and men made up 0.5% of male headteachers (a difference of 0.3 percentage points)

Methodology

Methodology

Data shown here is based on administrative data collected from schools and local authorities in November 2017 as part of the seventh annual school workforce census.

The census also collects detailed information on teachers, teaching assistants and other non-classroom based school support staff.

Data on independent schools, sixth form colleges and further education establishments is not included.

Suppression rules and disclosure control

Estimates based on fewer than 50 teachers have been suppressed to ensure that only reliable findings are reported. Numbers of teachers are shown to the nearest 100.

Rounding

Numbers of teachers are shown to the nearest 100. Percentages have been calculated using unrounded numbers.